The Children are Falling Apart!

I'm finally recovered from last night's fiascos enough to post the story. It was one of those nights that I'm glad I'm not really a single parent permanently. Kara had been home all day with a fever and a headache that wouldn't leave. After a couple of doses of Tylenol, she was not getting much better. I put a call into the doctor's office and waited for the advice nurse to call back. While we wait, I decide to be efficient with my time and get things ready to run errands. I prepare my van to put things in the back. To spare you the gory details, my son Micah got his feet crushed with the back row of seats (please don't ask how because you will cringe). I quickly get on the phone and my wonderful VT and friend Shannon came over to get my kids (including the sick one) and took them to her house. I jumped in my van with Micah and proceeded to take him to Phoenix Children's Hospital. From the nature of the accident, compounded with him screaming in pain and not being able to walk on his left foot, I thought for sure he seriously broke his foot. On the way to the hospital, I was picturing myself at the airport with two of my children in casts. Well, we should be granted handicap status right. Heck, we should get that for having kids. I digress. We get to PCH, check in, get triaged and are in back waiting to go for x-rays. While waiting, I'm on my cell phone with the advice nurse for Kara. They wanted me take another temperature at that moment. I told them I couldn't because I was in the ER with another kid. I'm sure they were shaking their heads at that one and ready to call social services. I call Shannon and have her take Kara's temp, not only is the fever still there it got worse, going from 101.2 to 103.2F. Time to call reinforcements. I speed-dialed my husband had him make calls to find someone to give Kara a blessing because granted, I'm pretty good at multitasking, but not that good. Once I knew that was being taken care I was a little more relaxed and felt that Kara would be okay while I took care of Micah. By this point, Micah was sitting on the gurney watching Care Bears from a portable DVD player with not a care in the world. Oh to be 4 y.o. again. They took him for his x-rays and followed all the instructions that were given him. The employees there were just wonderful, definitely worth the long drive over there. When the doctor approached us, I was in slight shock (because we had only been there for 1 1/2 hrs). I was ready to hear the worst. NO FRACTURES! I looked at her in disbelief and said, "Really?!" They diagnosed it as a really bad sprain. I was so relieved to hear that my baby was not maimed. As soon as we were discharged, I rushed home to take care of the next victim. I got to Shannen's and Kara's fever was coming down and her headache was going away. I was so happy she was okay. Bishop Smith and Shannen's husband gave Kara a blessing. Kara shared with me that she began to feel better after the blessing. That's the faith of a child for you. Thank you Shannen and Rob for helping me out. I'm so thankful for prayers and priesthood blessings. An exciting night, with nothing to show for it but an ace-wrapped ankle, but hey, I'll take that any day.

Happy 12th Anniversary!!

I don't have a scanner so I tried to take a picture of one of our wedding photos. The other one is the most decent and recent picture of Randy and I together. I'm expecting comments like, "You haven't changed a bit." (LOL. J/K).

Today is our wedding anniversary. We have been married for 12 years. It doesn't seem like it has been that long. That must mean we are having fun. Right now, being in the middle of moving, we are having a ton of fun! Randy asked me to marry him on my 19th birthday. Yes, I was quite young, but then again, most you were too. I always remember it as being a very happy moment. Randy took me to the ocean front at Turtle Bay that night after dinner. He sat on the bench and sat me down. He then looked at me and asked me if I would marry him. I remember smiling and saying yes. His response to that was , "Yeah? You sure?" He doesn't remember that, but I do. It was cute. We've been through so much on this journey so far, from school, to babies, to traveling across oceans and back (almost), but I'm glad that I get to go through it with him. We both complement each other so well. My weaknesses are his strong points and vice versa. (Sorry, forgot to warn you that this was going to be a mushy post). You'd think that after being with the same person for 12 years, you'd be bored of each other, but I find the opposite to be true . I am always amazed at how much more we love each other.  It just keeps getting better and better. My parents and my in-laws show that to be true. Happy Anniversary dear!

One Man's Trash . . .

They say that "one man's trash is another man's treasure".  Judging by the number of people that didn't even get out of their car to look, they all must have thought it was trash as well. My friend hosted a community yard sale, so I decided to take some things over that we didn't want or use and see if I could make some money from it. After motivating my kids with the money they would get to keep from selling stuff they don't play with, I was bombarded with a plethora of old toys, books, bags and games. I quickly set to work pricing it all. That was a little tricky. My 7 y.o. couldn't understand why selling her used Bratz BackPack for $10.00 was unreasonable. After convincing her to lower the price tag to $1.00, I hurried over and set up shop in my friend Lori's driveway at 7:30 am. I sat there for 4 + hrs and made a total of $13.00 selling 2 items. If this were a real job, I would be in financial trouble because I made only $3.00/hr sitting there. I couldn't believe that no one wanted to buy my abslide (remember that) or my complete set of "The Firm II", it's just beyond me. My two older kids made popcorn and cookies to sell. They actually had more business in the 30 minutes that they were there than I did all morning. Most of that business was from me. Seeing as I spent about $4.00 on them, I went home with $9.00 to my name. I guess it's off to Goodwill now. Next time I'll just have a bake sale.

Spirit Week at Canyon Ridge

This week the kids had Spirit Week at school. Tyler and Leigh really got into it. Kara was a little more selective on the days she wanted to show school spirit and personal pride. The first day was Crazy Hair Day. I had meant to pick up some hair dye for the kids but forgot. The kids made due with what we had. The next day was mismatch day. We had a dr. appt that day so the kids kind of forgot about it. Wednesday was Era Day. Leigh was a hippie from the 60's and Tyler was a boy from the 80's (note the homemade bolo tie). Yesterday was the last day, Career Day. Leigh wants to be a reporter (that's a mic in her hand), Tyler started out with being an orthodontist, but somewhere along the way ended being a mad scientist (don't know if they have job openings for that anymore), and Kara was a school teacher. 

The Twilight Obsession Continues with Eclipse

The obsession continues. Ok, when you're counting down the days till the 

4th book comes out, and also when the movie comes out, what do you do in the mean time? You hold a party -------- oh, I meant a book discussion with all your Twilight obsessed friends (disclaimer, not all are obsessed). I invited the ladies from the ward to come to my house for a book discussion of Eclipse. Those of you familiar with the books, I know what you're thinking, Eclipse came out in August 2007. We've been a little busy, what can I say. We finally got together tonight and dissected the book, shared our favorite parts, declared the ones we hated, and theorized about what Breaking Dawn will bring. By the way, my favorite part, hmmmmm, when Edward asks Bella to marry him and you see how happy that makes him (I actually have many favorite parts in the book). Least favorite part, easy, I hate when Bella figures out that she's also in love with Jacob as well! You may have guessed, I'm a total Edward fan!! And yes my husband is very much aware of Edward and yes, I know Edward is not real.  Truth be told, Randy is my Edward (I know, I know, go ahead and puke). Those of you who don't know what I'm talking about ---- you need to go out and buy the books (beware though, they turn you into a bad, bad, bad mom). Anyhow, we all had fun. We did this about a year ago and discussed the 1st two books, Twilight and New moon and had a blast! We of course ended the evening with a discussion of the movie. Yes, they are making a movie of the 1st book. The movies comes out Dec. 12th, 2008. December never seemed so far away before (big sigh). Well, those of us who are pathetically obsessed (I include myself in this category), do have things to keep us occupied until then, right. You figure, May 31st the 1st chapter of Breaking Dawn comes out, along with the book cover. You know we'll discuss that for at least a week and somehow, we'll figure out how to make the cover art the backdrop on our desktops. August 2nd, Breaking Dawn hits the bookstores and we will (hopefully) know the fate of Bella (yes, I hope she becomes a vampire). Somewhere between all that, an official trailer for the movie will be released to hold us over till December 12th. Uggggh! Who am I kidding, it's still 8 months away (you can scroll down to the bottom for a more accurate count from the widget). Well Twilighters, we'll just have to be satisfied with all the tidbits of news we get from the movie set stalkers, and keep replaying those MTV video clips they've posted. Till then, happy countdown.

Some of the girls around the island discussing more of the book.


This actually is a small representation of the Twilight fans in the ward. Not all could make it. These ladies are great and I will miss them. From L to R: Lori Webb, Jamie Bloom, Amy Waite, Dustin Westover, Me, Jessica Coward (in the back), Jenna Dean, Jenny Taylor (in the back), Ashley Bluth, Doreen LeNguyen. 


The ladies hung around after we officially ended at around 10 pm. I think I said good-bye to the last guest at around 11:30 pm. Thanks for coming ladies.

I love a good recipe

Along with blogging, another hobby of mine is collecting recipes. I saw this recipe on another friend's, friend's blog (did you get that?). I LOOOOOVE chocolate and mint together, it puts me in my happy place! I saved it for a special occasion, my book discussion. It turned out yummylicious (say that 5 times fast)! A couple of people asked for the recipe, so here it is and enjoy.

Grasshopper brownies

Brownies:
2 boxes brownie mix
Mint Frosting: 
4 cups powdered sugar 
1 cup soft butter 
2 Tbsp. water 
1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract 
4 drops green food coloring 
Chocolate Topping:
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup butter 
1) To make the Brownies follow the recipe for "cake-like" brownies. Or if their isn't one, add 3 more eggs. Pour into a large, greased cookie sheet, bake and let cool completely 
2) To make the mint frosting, combine powdered sugar, butter, water, peppermint extract and food coloring. Mix. Spread over cooled brownies and refrigerate until hard on top.
3) To make chocolate topping microwave chocolate chips and butter for 2 minutes. Stir until all chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Add 1-2 tsp. peppermint extract. As soon as this mixture thickens and is no longer hot, spread over mint topping on brownies. Put back into the refrigerator until hard.

4) Enjoy! This batch feeds a lot by the way.

Oops, he did it again!

*Warning, this post is not for those with weak stomachs.

Every family has one, the kid with all the accidents. Tyler's our kid. We love him, but he needs a protective bubble around his whole body. I'm actually amazed we've made it this far without any hospitalizations. I take it back. We did. After this most recent stint (we'll get to it in a minute), Tyler and I counted out the different accidents he has experienced this school year. I noticed a theme as we discussed the types of accidents he's had. ALMOST. Tyler ALMOST broke his face with his skateboard doing tricks. He ALMOST broke his arm trying to do the monkey-bars backwards with his eyes closed (he calls it freestyling on the monkey bars). He ended up with a bowed fracture which is what it sounds like, he bent his bone. How do you fix that you ask, with a splint. He ALMOST lost vision in his right eye after being impaled by a broom bristle (don't ask).We had a great specialist that did emergency eye surgery and saved his vision. And now, he ALMOST broke his foot. Actually, we don't even know whether he did or not. Which I know begs the question, what happened? Well, long story short, he fell from his bunk bed. We took him in thinking that it was nothing. Even the doctor thought he was okay, but sent us for an x-ray anyway. What do you know, a possible fracture was seen. After seeing the orthopedist, his evaluation was basically that they could not get a good visual of where the fracture might be. To play it safe they casted Tyler for 3 weeks and will recheck it then. This is one area of life where I'm glad that my kid does not give 110% and follow through going all the way with his injuries (I am being very sarcastic). On a serious note, I am very thankful that Tyler has come away from these accidents pretty much unscathed. He has also been a trooper with it all, having a good attitude and taking it in stride. What does Tyler think of his new accessories? At first it was cool to get a cast and crutch ---- 3 hours later, he decided that crutches stink and the cast is hot and heavy. I've decided that both the crutch and cast are a hazard to his good leg, not to mention the rest of his body. (Big sigh) It's going to be a long 3 weeks.

I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Frozen Custard!

I'm out of order now. This event happened on Friday the 18th. One of our favorite places to go for a treat is a place called Ritter's. They sell what looks like ice-cream, but is really frozen custard. It is REALLY good! If you've never had it before, it has a smoother texture than ice-cream if you can believe that. It is expensive, so it's not a place that we go often. We had promised the kids a few weeks ago that we would go to Ritter's one last time before we leave. After 3 turtle sundaes, 1 worms-in-dirt cup (guess who ordered that one), and a shared classic banana split, we were full and happy!

Ready, Set, GO!

Today, I participated in the a short Sprint Triathlon that was held in Litchfield Park. I say short, because the distances were shorter than a real Sprint Triathlon. It was a fun event. Check in began at 6 am, which of course meant that I dragged my family out of the house with me at 5:50 am. They were all really good about it (aah, the magic of McD's breakfast). The race began promptly at 7 am. We all lined up for our turn to swim according to how fast we could finish the swim portion. The swim was 300m. I jumped in the water (which was warm, thank goodness) and swam. I was definitely out of practice with my swimming. I could feel my leg muscles tighten half-way through. I guess it would have helped if I had practiced. My legs were in shock I think. Got out of the water. Tried to pull tight clothes over a wet bathing suit, not an easy thing to do. Hopped on my bike and pedaled as fast as I could. If you have ever been to Litchfield Park, you would see that it is a flat place. Well, after riding around for 8 miles, I beg to differ. There are some elevations in the road, they may be slight, but they're there. My legs can testify to that. I finished the bike portion and began running, which is a big improvement from the last triathlon I did. Last time I walked for almost a mile after doing the bike portion. After running 1/2 a mile, my brain and leg finally connected telling my legs that they were running now and not on the bike any more. I've been doing a lot of running, so I wasn't dying too much during that segment. The run portion was 2 miles. I crossed the finish line to the cheers of my family and friends. I was tired but not exhausted. It wasn't a "Sprint in the Park", but it was fun. I loaded up on carbs afterwards. I figured, I earned that 400 calorie muffin they were offering. I left before knowing what my time was. When I find out, I will post it. If you've never done an organized race, I recommend it for everyone, it is a fun thing (I hear the moaning, and you know who you are, just stop it) and a little addicting. Plus you get a free shirt (I've got a collection going). 

The Backyard is Done --- Well, Almost.

I'm slacking a little. This post should have been done on Tuesday. Saturday, our family did some good old fashion hard work in the yard. We spent 2 hours pulling weeds, getting it ready for rocks that were coming Monday. It was good to get out there and do some work. The kids did a good job and we got it done.

Tuesday, we had men from the ward come help us finish up our backyard. We put rocks in the rest of the spaces that were left. The delivery guy came on Monday and dropped 8.5 tons of rock in front of our house. It was hauled to our backyard in about an hours time. I'm grateful that people were so willing to come and help us out. We provided some sandwiches and stuff, and the bishop made a comment that because the work only took an hour, he didn't think they deserved all the food. I said because it was done that quickly that they more than deserved what we were offering. Thank you again to the High Priests, Elders Quorum, and YM's.

More Good-byes

Yesterday was Randy's last day at Glendale Community College. His co-workers and other friends there at the school threw him a farewell party. I was able to go with Micah. The food was so delicious, best Mexican food ever. We will miss that when we go to Hawaii. A lot of people stopped by to say good-bye to Randy. They had a banner up and he was also given cards and I gift. I just realized from the picture I forgot to put the gift in there. Many well-wishes were given. Randy was very fortunate to have worked with such great people. He will miss them, as well as I. The women in his office were always more than friendly and welcoming when the kids and I would visit the office. We will definitely keep in touch with the family at GCC. 

My Family

It' Sunday afternoon and I needed  a distraction, so I decided to post some stuff on my family. Last year, in October, we had our first "Niu Family Reunion". It was so fun. We went on road trips, went to Disneyland, was able to see where everyone in the US lived. We ended the reunion at our home. Everyone took turns cooking dinner. That was probably my favorite part, seeing what each family would cook. I know my sisters are going to kill me for doing this, but my other sister did it, so I'm going to do it. Below are pictures from our get together.

Starting from in front is my brother Joe (the youngest & still single), on the (L) is Tiana (2nd oldest) her husband William, me on the right (the oldest) with Randy my hubby, in between are our parents Jean and Howard, then Jennifer (3rd oldest) with her husband Logan.  




My mom and dad. I will have to try and upload more later because the server won't let me. But that's my family. When we get to Hawaii, you can bet there will a lot of pictures of Randy's family up here. Maybe I can get them to start blogging.

Bittersweet Good-Byes

Last night was my last night at work for West Valley Hospital. My time there has been an interesting and educational one. I worked for that hospital the longest in my RN career, 4 years. It is the smallest hospital so far, that I have worked for. I was a RN on their Postpartum floor. I love doing postpartum. I enjoy teaching new parents how to take care of their newborn. I know it's in my job description to help my patients, but it makes me smile when I have been working all night with a mom who just wants to breastfeed and 5 mins before the end of the shift, the baby finally latches and the mom is elated. It is very gratifying work. Plus, I get to hold little newborns when I go to work. I get my baby-fix and then send the babies back to their mommies. Could it get any better?! My wonderful colleagues threw a farewell party. I was so touched that almost all of the postpartum staff with a good number of night shift L&D staff had come. They brought great food! I have made many friends there that have been patient with me and taught me many things. Below are some pictures of the ladies that I had the pleasure of working with, unfortunately it wasn't everyone. All of them gave me hug before I left.

(L to R) Melody (she's Hawaiian), Me, Maria, Lisa, Pat, Eden.

Pam (a day shifter) and Me. People kept insisting that I be in the picture.

These are some of the crazy but fun L&D staff that I work with: (L to R) Stephenie, Damian (our scrub tech and go-to man when we need things), Arlene, and Christine. Fun girls!!!

This was the end of my last shift. See how great I look (heavy sarcasm). (L to R) Pam, Me, Evelyn, Lisa, Delphia. After looking at all these pictures, I look like a giant compared to the rest of ladies. No wonder they kept telling me that I was soooo tall. I didn't think I was that tall, but I guess when I stand next to them, I'm HUGE!
There were so many more people I didn't get to take pictures of, especially Gloria who put together the farewell party. Her husband is such a great cook, and I enjoyed many nights when we are working together, of food her husband would cook. He needs to open a restaurant. She also gave me a gift that her husband made (this guy is so multi-talented and she is a great, smart nurse as well). I will have to take a picture and post it of the gift and of her and the other friends I missed last night. These are the bittersweet parts of moving. I'm excited to be moving on to other things, but sad to leave behind the friends I've made. Thank goodness for technology to keep me in touch with everyone.

Another Artist in the House

Move over Van Gogh, watch out Michaelangelo, Kara Sasaki is making her public debut as an artist! This year, we were excited to hear that Kara's art teacher selected one of her art pieces to be displayed in the District Art Show. Last year Tyler was in it. Their school had their own art show on Mar. 24th (which I wasn't aware of). Tyler and Kara both had pieces that were displayed, but just Kara this time was selected. Her piece was a representation of "Resist". We all went down yesterday to view it. It was fun. They had refreshments and everything. Art is definitely an inherit trait in our family stemming from the Miyashiro side (Randy's mom's side). Thank you Grandma Jane. Congratulations Kara, well done!

Blue and Gold Banquet -- Happy 78th Cub Scouts!

Last night our ward had their annual Blue and Gold Banquet. We all enjoyed ourselves. Tyler came ahead of time to help with decorations with his Wolf Pack. We came in and were seated by him. After a few introductions, posting of the colors, it was time to eat. We had taco salads, something we'd been craving in my house lately. After dinner, awards were given. Tyler received a few belt loops and a gold arrow point (?). It's so small, I better put it on his uniform shirt before I lose it. Tyler's leader is Bro. Ortiz. He has had such a great time with him. We are so thankful for all the time he puts into helping out our boys. Brother Ortiz has 3 daughters. After awards, it was time for CAKE! Yay cake! Good job Tyler. One more pack meeting before he becomes a bear.

April Fool's

Ok, we are not big pranksters in our house, at least for the most part. So I was surprised when I woke yesterday morning to hear about the jokes my 8 y.o. boy was having fun doing. When I went into the kitchen, he came in with a big smile on his face, carrying a gift bag with (my) tissue paper, saying, "I got you a gift mom." I played along and looked inside. Inside was just a note saying "April Fool's". I thought, ok, not bad for a 1st timer and at least it wasn't a bug. Later that evening, Randy asked if I had heard about the prank that had been pulled on Kara this morning. He explained that Tyler had put some cool whip on Kara's hand and tickled her face. Of course you all know that when she went to wipe her face, she put cool whip all over her face. All I could say to that was, "Why didn't they tape that?!" I thought that that was funny. That would also explain the screaming we heard that morning from her. Maybe we'll have to make it a tradition in our home.